ambushed by a gang of unknown gunmen at Esisi Roundabout, along popular Okere Market, Warri, Delta State.
The officials were conveying suspects to the court via the ever-busy Okere Road, when the gunmen opened fire on their vehicle.
Three suspects, who were being taken to court, were said to have escaped and whisked away by the ravaging gunmen in the process, while one was shot dead.
Three officials of the service, according to sources, are in danger list at an undisclosed hospital following gunshots wounds sustained during the gun duel.
The prison warders were said to be on their way to the court with some inmates few minutes before 9.00a.m when their convoy was halted at the roundabout where the bandits, who were on a rescue mission of their colleague, laid siege for them.
The attack was said to be commando-like, as the robbers, who were said to be armed with sophisticated weapons, sprayed the air with bullets before going into real action.
When the Nigerian Tribune got to the spot at about 10.30a.m on a tip-off, sympathisers were seen gathered in their various shops, discussing the incident in low tones.
At the spot, where the van was about negotiating the roundabout that leads to the court, coagulated blood stains splashed the tarred road.
A witness said it was on that spot that the ravaging bandits waylaid the suspects-carrying van, deflated the four tyres with bullets, shot dead the driver before blasting the padlock of the van with bullets, then moved closer and shot dead their victims at a very close range.
Another witness said the magnitude of the attack made the mangled warders’ bodies barely unrecognisable. They were later taken to Warri Central Hospital by a team of Nigerian Police, which was said to have arrive the scene after the incident.
The bandits were said to besiege the four points of the roundabout with their vehicles, which included a Jeep and a Toyota Camry.
Meanwhile, the Area Commander of the Nigerian Police, A-Division, Warri, ACP Hussein Rabiu, who confirmed the incident, said two prison warders were killed on the spot, but that his men, who gave the bandits a hot chase, had rearrested the three-fleeing robbery suspects, who were rescued by the gunmen.
